Cactus Club Cafe at First Canadian Place (FCP)

Cactus Club Cafe is one of the hottest spot in downtown Toronto, it’s located right at the heart of the Financial District, at the First Canadian Place (FCP). Cactus Club Cafe originated from Vancouver, BC and with its success in the west coast, they wanted to bring their culinary food items and specialty drinks to Toronto.

I have been to this hot spot numerous times and every time I am here, I walk out with a happy face and with a satisfying tummy. Mind you though, this place is jam packed every single day and night, even on Mondays. We all know many places are dead on Mondays, not at Cactus Club Cafe, so I highly recommend you to book ahead of time. If you didn’t make a reservation that day, don’t even try to take your chance by walk-in, coz it will be a long wait and even if you want to wait, you will be going home empty handed. So, you sure don’t want to dress nice and not able to enjoy a good evening.

There are 3 floors at the Cactus Club Cafe, with each floor having its own style, decor and vibe. Every floor has its own flavour and vibe. I have never been to the ground floor, for some reason, I was always seated in the 2nd floor or the 3rd floor (rooftop). I enjoy every floor though. If you are not able to walk the stairs, it has an elevator that will stop at every floor. Personally, if I want to have a great brunch or dinner, I would request 2nd floor, as it’s where the main kitchen is located. The washroom is huge. From the men’s washroom perspective, the washroom is clean, modern & even have a chair for you to sit there and chill (although I doubt anyone would chill there long, but I did sat there for a few minutes to check on my social media work as I don’t want to do it at my table when I don’t want to be rude checking my phone at the dining table).

Every floor has a different DJ that plays different type of music. Depending on the time of the evening, the DJs normally play some 80s or 90s music with not so loud music, so we can enjoy a good conversation with our peeps and enjoy a meal. As the evening goes later, the DJ will pump up the music and play more faster music with stronger beats.

If you want to hang out and have nice drinks, the rooftop is the place to be. You can order drinks at the bar station. In the summer, the roof panels are opened to allow fresh breeze in. And the patio rooftop section will be opened as well. But in winter, roof panels are closed and the heaters are on to keep us warm. The decor at the rooftop feels like “Miami North”. Nice clean and white decor with green plants.

Some of my favourite food items at Cactus Club Cafe? I like the fried calamari, it’s crispy with golden batter on the calamari and it mixes with Jalapeño, which is quite unique but tasty. The only thing I would like is bigger calamari pieces as the pieces leans toward a bit mini pieces, otherwise, it’s a good dish.

I also like the tuna stack, which is kind of like the ever popular “Poke”. Fresh chunks of tuna mixed with citrus tamari vinaigrette, nori, sesame, avocado, micro cilantro, wonton chips. Speaking of the wonton chips, it’s freshly made in-house, it’s tasty, crispy and the most important part? It could hold on the toppings solidly. Some places usually don’t give enough chips for you to scoop the toppings and many places serve chips that break off easily. Not at Cactus Club Cafe, the wonton chips are solid.

I also like the Ravioli + Prawn Trio, which consists of butternut squash and mascarpone ravioli, truffle butter sauce, sautéed jumbo prawns, pine nuts. The truffle butter sauce smells good and overall of this dish is phenomenal.

All types of drinks are tasty and generously pour. Currently, I really like the Mojito and Moscow Mule serving in its signature brass mug.

So…food is great, drinks are great here at Cactus Club Cafe. And in terms of service? Consistent excellent service throughout the entire restaurant and every time I go, they make me and my peeps happy. On a side note, I would like to give a special shoutout to the amazing service by Paul, Amy & Ashley. You guys have been working at Cactus since Day 1 and have been providing excellent service every single time. Great people like them is what’s make customers like myself to return to dine and drink at Cactus Club Cafe.

I highly recommend you to check out Cactus Club Cafe. #MoVernieApproved!